It's not remembering the radical...it's remembering the patriot

There was one benefit to reading Penelope Blake's letter 'Remembering the radical' which complained about Michael Workman's piece on Chicago Home Theater Festival featuring Bill Ayers contribution to this wonderful Chicago cultural gem. It informed me of another fascinating facet of Ayers life which has been inspirational to me going on half a century. 

As one who opposed the Vietnam War in the 1960s, I understand the frustration of those who worked to end an immoral war that needlessly killed over a million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans for no reason at all. Ayers  make no apologies for efforts which included condoning if not participating in violent conduct, albeit directed at buildings, not people. He long ago fulfilled his legal responsibility for radical activities that jeopardized his freedom, if not his life.  He could have thrown away the rest of his life while still a young man as many in the antiwar movement did. Instead, he redeemed himself by becoming productive citizen, working to make this a better country and world. A half century later, Ayers remains a leader in the resistance movement against a power elite systematically degrading every decent American value we cherish. A revered educator, social activist and now, based on Workman's informative post, a devotee and patron of the arts, Ayers is not spending his golden years coasting while our society is endangered beyond our poor powers of comprehension. If he'll never quit, neither will I, and I would hope he'll inspire more people like Penelope Blake, whose snapshot view of fifty years ago, misses the enormity of Ayers contribution to the American Story.